Fangirls: Weird? or SCARY?

[Riku]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=Navy]Fangirls... yes, you've all heard this term before, if not, seen them in anime chat rooms.

Fangirls are the people who have fallen hopelessly in love with anime characters and have probably fallen from the real world. Everytime they talk about an anime show, fangirls always have to say weird things like this:

"OMG! I so totally love Inu Yasha because he is so hot!"

Umm... okay...

and others even scarier than that:

"Yeah, I am so in luv with Sesshoumaru. He's so mine and no one else can have him!"

Uh... I'm sorry, but millions of others say that, too. And... he's not real..

And the most scariest one that I have ever heard in my entire life:

"Ed and Mustang should so make out with each other because them both together are so totally hot and it turns me on!!!"

People!! Are there no bounds to the level of stupidity when fangirls say these kinds of things?! I mean, okay, calling an anime guy cute is okay, but hot and that they turn you on? That is so totally wrong[/COLOR]...[/FONT] :animeangr :animeangr

:animesigh [FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=Navy]Ahem, anyways, if you have seen worse things being said from fangirls, please, post them and explain why you think this makes anime lovers look stupid and idiotic.

Maybe, just maybe, we can cure this horrorific disease... one fangirl at a time[/COLOR]....[/FONT]

[Guest kuroinuyoukai]

Ok so I am a fangirl but I am not too crazy. I realize that I find some characters cute, but they don't turn me on. Anyway I have heard Fangirls say ," Oh, Sasuke's so cute...I wanna have his baby!!"

I will agree with you Clouds that this is craziness...but what about fanboys? You know boys who see anuime panties and go crazy? Just a thought...

By the way we have the same birthday!!

[Dhampir]

Ah, the fangirl. I myself was one once, although I got over that phase pretty quick, lol.

One of my best friends is head-over-heels over Shaoran from Tsubasa: Chronicle. She actually asked me if I would draw an icchi of her and him so that I could, and I quote, "Put my greatest fantasy to life, in the hope that someday it will come true."
:animeangr

I promtly declined.

[Dagger]

I don't see a problem with applying the word (or its male variation) to any type of rabid fan. A romantic obsession doesn't have to be part of the equation. Using the Fullmetal Alchemist example: there are Roy (a particular character) fangirls out there, and there are Roy/Ed (a particular relationship) fangirls, but there are also fans of the series in general who could be called fangirls... y'know, "FMA fangirls." Or a better example might be FFVII fanboys. Often it does have a lot to do with looks or sexual appeal or whatever, but that doesn't have to be the main element IMO.

It's complicated by the fact that people sometimes call themselves fangirls as a sort of self-deprecating sign of pride (much like the term [i]otaku[/i], actually!).

I'm leaving this thread here for now (OL mods, feel free to decide otherwise), since there are fangirls/fanboys of everything from video games to live-action TV series... although the OP was thinking primarily of anime.

Enjoying or seeking out fanservice isn't really what makes someone a fanboy, even if he does it excessively. There has to be an element of defensiveness & aggression & single-mindedness to the person's attitude to make him/her a fangirl or fanboy. That's the way I see it, at least.

~Dagger~

[wayofthreversed]

Hmm fan girls eh? I do not think that it is a problem unless they become insanly in love with the character and lose grip with reality.

[Riku]

[QUOTE]Enjoying or seeking out fanservice isn't really what makes someone a fanboy, even if he does it excessively. There has to be an element of defensiveness & aggression & single-mindedness to the person's attitude to make him/her a fangirl or fanboy. That's the way I see it, at least.[/QUOTE]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS][COLOR=Navy]I totally agree with Dagger-sama and I would like to apologize to everyone out there who think of this as calling them stupid.[/FONT] Gomen nasai. [/COLOR] :animeswea :(
[FONT=Comic Sans MS]
[COLOR=Navy]He is totally right. Everyone out there who loves anime and video games a lot is an otaku, which actually, in other words, is a fangirl/boy. If you totally love an anime show (as to how Dagger-sama put it), then, you are a fangirl/boy! I guess I am one even without thinking about it...

I wasn't really thinking, but I only wanted this thread to talk about the things that people who are totally in love with anime guys and want to have their babies... not everyone in the whole world who just loves anime.

Again, if anyone thought of this as offensive, I am truly sorry and I didn't mean it that way. Gomen nasai[/COLOR].[/FONT]

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]

Well, I was never much of a fan girl. I'm not just bsing, I was never much of a fan girl. Yes, I liked watching Tasuki and right now I think Riven on Winx Club (an Italian cartoon that's been chopped up and dubbed in English by 4Kids) is really hot. But then I realize hey, he's only 2-D. And I relax and get back on that damn singles site! Heh, yeah.

I think fanboys are even worse. No seriously they are! I have a friend who I talk to who is friggin' obsessed with Flora from Winx Club (see above description). And by obsessed I mean he thinks that Flora is real. It wouldn't be as scary if he was like 14 or so, but the guy is 18! Yes EIGHTEEN!!

So I guess it just depends on the scale of fangirl/boyism. Crushing on an animated character isn't bad. Going overboard is.

Thank you for your support.[/color]

[Guest The Eighth Sin]

One of my friends was a fangirl and it scared me. Another one (who claims to hate all anime) is still a fangirl. She gets mad and tells me I'm a fangirl :animeangr but I never saw the point in having a crush on a drawing? Overal, fangirls scare me and I have yet to meet a fanboy. :animesmil

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.

In answer to the title question, I have to say having read some of the fangirl responses given by CloudsOnly that scary might be the more accurate description of my thoughts. I disagree with Dagger in that any "rabid" fan of any material might be described as a fanboy/girl, given my enjoyment of various forms of sci-fi I would loathe to think someone might describe me as a fanboy. I think that fanboy/girl does more correctly describe someone who may be obsessed with a certain anime rather than a certain material.[/SIZE]

[Dagger]

[QUOTE=Gavin][SIZE=1]Interesting, most interesting.

In answer to the title question, I have to say having read some of the fangirl responses given by CloudsOnly that scary might be the more accurate description of my thoughts. I disagree with Dagger in that any "rabid" fan of any material might be described as a fanboy/girl, given my enjoyment of various forms of sci-fi I would loathe to think someone might describe me as a fanboy. I think that fanboy/girl does more correctly describe someone who may be obsessed with a certain anime rather than a certain material.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]
Well, there does have to be some kind of specificity involved. "Fangirl" is commonly used to describe BL (read: yaoi) and/or slash fans, which is an incredibly broad category. However, that usage works because there's a sense of identity to it that might otherwise be supplied by tying the term to a specific franchise (as in, "Oh, God, not another Inuyasha fangirl!"). Most people think of something very distinct & clear when they think of BL fangirls. The same is not true of sci-fi. Now, if someone was a rabid fan of a particular sci-fi author or whatever, then I say s/he would qualify as a fangirl/boy. Although as I mentioned earlier, the person's attitude is what's most important.

And I've just put way too much thought into this. But I wanted to clarify my position, as it were.

~Dagger~

[Gavin]

[QUOTE=Dagger]Well, there does have to be some kind of specificity involved. "Fangirl" is commonly used to describe BL (read: yaoi) and/or slash fans, which is an incredibly broad category. However, that usage works because there's a sense of identity to it that might otherwise be supplied by tying the term to a specific franchise (as in, "Oh, God, not another Inuyasha fangirl!"). Most people think of something very distinct & clear when they think of BL fangirls. The same is not true of sci-fi. Now, if someone was a rabid fan of a particular sci-fi author or whatever, then I say s/he would qualify as a fangirl/boy. Although as I mentioned earlier, the person's attitude is what's most important.

And I've just put way too much thought into this. But I wanted to clarify my position, as it were.

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]

[SIZE=1]I suppose given the fact that Star Trek fans are referred to collectively as Trekkies, with similar names for Star Wars and Stargate fans it just seems incorrect to refer to them as "fan-". It's probably down to the fact that I myself have a vested interest in each of those science fictions that the use of the term fanboy is something I would find somewhat insulting given the nature of those whom the term has been coined for. However in saying that I agree with you when you say that attitude is the more important factor in determining exactly the difference between a fanboy/girl and a Trekkie for instance. [/SIZE]

[IceRose]

Fan girls are evil, dangerous and bring doom to the poor characters of animations mostly when one says that one likes them too. Warning a fan girl close. Well they are weird and scary.

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]Hmm, I dunno. I've collected a fair number of fangirls over my years at OB here and they haven't mobbed me yet. So I think they're fine. ;)[/color]

[Brasil]

The way I see it...if I go to some random anime expo, I'm not dressing as quasi-mentally handicapped cartoon characters. There are enough of those in the shows (and then out on the expo floors). Dressing up like whoever Kagimi, Shagoma, whatever--because they're all the same character, let's be honest, lol--will guarantee two things:

One, I'm going to laugh at you and point.

And two, I'm going to dress as Darth Vader and Force-Choke your -ss. Or just choke you in the general, physical sense of the word.

I can understand being a fan of a series or show, or movie or whatever, because I'm a big Star Wars fan, and a big fan of the old Star Trek series, and various other sci-fi franchises, but I draw the line at a certain point, and I think oogling over some fictional character from any fictional work is crossing that line.

I think the best example of my thoughts on the matter is the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog's segment on Late Night with Conan O'Brien where Triumph insults a whole bunch of Star Wars nerds, then has Spock flip them off at the end.

Because, really, isn't that what life's all about in the end? Flipping off the personality-doomed and terminally (social) life-less?

I mean...I certainly wouldn't mind introducing some of those nerds' behinds to their fake, plastic extendo-sabers paperclipped to their leather/felt belts.

And to answer the question...fangirls (and boys) are neither weird nor scary. They're just reasons why mercy killings should be legal.

[Kei]

[color=darkblue][size=1]We're merely biding our time, Des. Merely biding our time... :p

Anywho, on the topic at hand (and speaking as a low-level fangirl,) fanpeople aren't weird or scary until the reach a certain level. Those that have been described thus far as the "wilder" ones are basically what give fanpeople such a bad reputation. There's nothing wrong with liking a character/pairing/whathaveyou, it's just taking it to an extreme level that's the problem, heh.[/size][/color]

[Drizzt Do'urden]

Who hasn't fantasized about being in there favorite anime? Anime is an escape for teens/adults much as children play "cops and robbers" or "power rangers". Fangirls/boys/men/women/people are just people who still hold on to there "inner child" I know I'm not young by the boards standards , 21 to be exact, but I still kick back once in awhile and let myself be absorbed into whatever anime I'm watching. Though I don't pretend I'm flying around like goku, or fighting demons as inuyasha. And there are some anime girls that I think are cute and it's fun to take away the fact that they're fiction and try to picture them as a real girl.

I do feel that people who take it too far and really fantasize about a certain character or put themselves in "sexual" situations with this character either have not matured yet (which you really cannot fault them) or do need to seek help in one way shape or form. It can't be healthy to actually get turned on by a fictional character no matter how perfectally proportinate...perfactally drawn....okay gotta run and watch an episode of Full Metal Panic :)

[Her Black Wings]

[color=maroon]I'd have to say that I am a fangirl, and I'm proud of it.

Now that we have that out of the way, i've seen people out their scarier than me, and it maybe hard to believe but whilst vieiwing another forum I saw a thread DEDICATED to trashing Lulu because she was with wakka. My heart literally almost stopped because it scared me that people could be that in depth with their "feelings" towards fictional characters.

But I think fanboys are much worse, and for fear of inappropriateness, I won't say why. I'll just leave you with: It cost my mom $400.

Enough said.[/color]

[Starwind]

To be perfectly honest, I have no problem with it, to a degree. However, you look at some of them out there and you wonder where they left there minds. It's frightening to think that anime can be that addicting. I mean sure ther can be fan girls for bands and movies stars and crap, but the difference is: They are real people. And no matter how remote, you could end up with them. You will never be in a situation with an anime character. It scares me really. We may not have the most fans, but anime fans are definitly the most devote and insane of any other fan base out there.

[Gavin]

[quote name='Brasil']And to answer the question...fangirls (and boys) are neither weird nor scary. They're just reasons why mercy killings should be legal.[/quote]

[SIZE=1]That kept me laughing for the better part of five minutes Alex, I can just imagine you actually saying that with a straight face and sounding completely sincere. [/SIZE]

[Kuroshin13]

I personally prefer the plain old term "fan" instead of "fangirl". In my expirience, most 'fangirls' and 'fanboys' I've met or talked to were a bit on the more...extreme waky head-over-heals in love with a 2D/3D character. I have no problem with it really, but there's a limit to what you can take without getting weirded out. Even for me.

Alright, I'll admit I've had my thoughts like "Hey, he'd be cute...[I]if[/I] he were [I]real[/I]" and leaving it at that, even if it was my favorite character of all time in that particular show.

The overly-romantic intrest in a perticualar character is where I personally put the line that starts with adding "girl" or "boy" at the end of "fan." In my mind/expirience other places on the internet, that's what draws the line between lets say "Seshomaru Fan" and "Seshomaru Fangirl" for minor example.